The Blackberry Curve 8520 White is nothing more than a colour variant of the standard 8520. The 8520 series has probably been the most popular range in the BlackBerry stable to date, taking the best of their business technolgy and build quality and packaging it up at a price that was more in line with other handsets targeting the consumer market.
The BlackBerry Curve White is a little more individual than the orginal Black version, but is still a professional looking handset, suitable for work and play, unlike some of the louder colors now available for this phone (to the best of our knowledge white was the first variant to appear for the Curve, as it has subsequently been for the Torch). Some sample contract deals for the 8520 White are shown below, followed by some more information on this handset.
BlackBerry Curve 8520 white, 100 minutes to any network and 500 texts. 250MB internet data per month.
Tariff Name: 100 mins with 250MB (24m), Network Vodafone, 24 Month Contract, 100 Anytime Minutes, 500 Free Text Messages, BlackBerry Curve 8520 white, Free Mobile Phone, Total Savings £96, Total Cost After Discounts £279
The 8520 has its roots firmly in the Bold series, you only have to compare the chasis of the Bold 9780 to the 8520 to see the similarities. However, the 8520 is a lot cheaper than the Bold and has fewer features and is a lot cheaper. You could say that the Curve is a “bold lite”, giving users the build quality and mail features they would expect from a BlackBerry without the hefty price tag.
At this point it is worth mentioning that the 8520 has now been superceded by the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300, which like the Bold 9700 is 3G compatible.
The fact that I mention this should tell you that the BlackBerry Curve 8520 White is not 3G compatible making internet usage very slow on the move.
This phone does have WiFi capability though, which means the Blackberry Curve 8520 White can connect to the internet anywhere there is a Wi-Fi hotspot, which these days is almost everywhere! The Curve range all have downloadable applications from the Blackberry App store so you can use twitter and facebook on the go really easily.
The Blackberry Curve 8520 White also features a QWERTY keyboard and specialised calling keys for easy of use. One of the best and easiest to use features on the Blackberry 8520 White is the Track Pad. This is in place of the usual older style Track Ball (not seen on many models now) which is used like a mouse but can stick into place making navigation quite difficult.
The Optical Track Pad is very similar to a track pad on a laptop (if you have ever used one) but obviously much smaller! It is very easy to use allowing full control over the phones navigation with a slide of thumb. The only disadvantage I have found with this trackpad is that it does not work well in the wet. It is an optical pad, and I guess getting water on it obscures the image it is trying to track, so, using with wet hands or in the rain can be a bit of a nuisance, but this really is a tiny issue.
The edge of the case of the 8520 white is rubberized for better grip and has been ergonomically designed with rounded edges.
The QWERTY keyboard fitted to these handsets is arguably the best in the industry and is surprisingly easy to work with, making this an ideal phone for those who send detailed messages via text, blackberrys secure messaging service, email or social networking applications (Facebook, Twitter and Flickr apps usually ship with this phone).
In terms of media, the 8520 white is fitted with a standard 3.5mm audio jack, into which you can plug your own headphones if the supplied ones are not to your liking. There is also an integrated media supporting all common formats.
Regards mail integration, the Curve 8520 white can handle a number of free mail services such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, each of which are given their own icon on the navigation. Furthermore, all messages are pooled into a single area which includes all mail addresses, sms, blackberry messages and saved requests for web pages, so, if you prefer to read all your mails in one area, as opposed to using the separate account icons you can do so. It is the level of email integration on these phones which separate them from rival products, which, although email capable do not integrate to the same extent.
The BlackBerry Curve White 8520, as previously mentioned uses an optical trackpad which is vastly superior when compared to the trackball fitted to older models. It is very easy to use and does not have issues with it getting dirty or stuck the way a mechanical pointer does (just think optical mouse vs the old ball type mouse).
The camera fitted to the Curve 8520 is, by modern standards quite limited at 2 megapixels, but, it is functional. QVGA video recording is also supported.
In addition to the free apps (social) you can download more from BlackBerry’s App World, though keep in mind that this handset is running an older version of the BlackBery operating system. If you thing you plan to use a lot of apps, check out their availability for different operating systems and consider a handset running OS6 (the Curve 3G, Torch or Bold 9780).
Should you run into memory / storage issues you can easily expand up to 32GB with a microSD card.
All in all a very solid handset for the money, the only limiting factors being lack of 3G compatibility, its older OS and camera.